Method of and machine for making multicolored strip shingles



G. P. HEFPES Fm m, 1%2121,

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MAKING MULTICOLORED STRIP SHINGLJES 3 Sheets-Shem 1 Filed April 24, 1926 1%. w, 1931. HE P M91560 METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MAKING MULTICOLORED STRIP SHINGLES Filed April 24, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 G. P. HEPPES Feb. 1% 3931.,

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MAKING MULTICOLORED STRIP SHINGLES SSheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 24, 1926 Patented F eb.; 10, 1931 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE GEORGE'IP. nnrrns, or cnrcaeo HEIGHTS, ILLmoIs, assmxon, BY mEsNE ASSIGN- mm'rs, 'ro 'rrm PATENT AND HOENSING CORPORATION, or nosron, MASSACHU- sums, A CORPORATION or nassacnusn'r'rs METHOD 01 AND MACHINE FOR MAKING MULTICOLORED STRIP SHING-LES Application filed April 24,

This invention relates tofabricated roofing which is usually made by coating sheet material with asphalt and surfacing the asphalt coating with conuninuted materials, such as sand, grit, crushed slate, brick, tile, or equivalents of these materials. In making a roofin of this type, sheet material is ordinarily ormed in a paper-making machine of fibrous material, such as rag or asbestos fiber ormixtures of various fibers, the sheet so made being sufiiciently absorbent to be readily saturated by liquid bitumen or other equivalent waterproofing compound. The saturated felt may then be coated with an impervious compound, usually a high melting-point asphalt, which on account of its tough and rubbery consistency provides an impervious coating for the material which will maintain its integrity through a wide range of temperatures and nder trying weather conditions. To proect the asphalt coating from the deteriorating action of the suns rays, which cause a surface hardening and checking or alli- 'ator effect on asphalt exposed thereto, a

rther protective surfacing of grit is customarily applied to the asphalt while still tacky and pressed into firm contact there with. This surfacing of granular material besides afiording protection to the impervious coating of asphalt, also conceals the uniform blackness of the asphalt coating and presents opportunities for artistic efiects in the roofing elements. It has been found that where a roof is composed of elements having a single color, the effect is usually monotonous; whereas, if a 'udicious combination of colors is used, hig ly pleasing and artistic. effects may be produced. Various methods for combining different colors have been tried out, but it appears that the most effective way to get an artistic-haphazard arrangement of harmonious colors onthe' roof as a whole and to avoid streaky, blotchy or geometrical designs, is to apply the colors so that the individual colors will correspond substantially in area with the equivalent of individual shingles where they are applied to the so-called shingle strips. strips are well known to the art'and are a Shingle 1926. Serial No. 104,263.

form favored by manufacturers and users of this general type of roofing on account of the ease of handling and laying, as Well as of shipping. On the shingle strips there are usually marks, grooves or slotsto define tabs which will give the appearance of individuallyspaced shingles when the strip is laid on the roof. By my invention, I preferably applymy granular materials of different colors in such a way that the boundaries between different colors will coincide with the dividing lines, grooves or slots between adjacent shingle-simulating tabs. .In order to avoid a regularity of design which is ordinarily not as pleasing as a haphazard arrangement of colors, it is necessary that the shingle strips applied to a roof be composed of assortments of various combinations of colors. If a machine is constructed to turn out only one assortmentof colors, it is necessary to make up a number of different batches of strips, each batch being composed I of strips having a different combination of colors; then afterward, to make up assortments by selecting stripsfrom the various batches and assembling them inpackages for shipment. This requires additional handling which is expensive and awkward. By my invention, I rovide a machine which makes a variety 0 color combinations on the strips so that the strips may be taken as'they come from themachine and packaged for shipment without sorting.

Further advantageous features and combinations will appear from the disclosure in the drawing in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view ona larger scale of one of the hoppers shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the machine.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of one of the hoppers.

.Figure 5 is a diagrammatic indication of the commutator controlling the action of the magnetic clutch in the machine. I

Figure 6 is a modified form of the same.

Figure 7 is a die rammatic showing of mechanism capable o carrying out the entire sequence of operations of making finished roofing units from the raw felt.

Figures 8 and 9 are fragmentary plans of strips of roofing felt which have been surfaced according to my invention, these figures also illustrating two methods of slotting and cutting the felt sheet.

Referring first to Figure 7, 10 re resents a supply of roofing felt which may of any desired kind. The felt is ordinarily drawn from a roll in the form of a sheet 11 which may first be slotted as by a mechanism 12 so as to provide means for defining the shinglesimulating tabs on the finished strip. It is advantageous to cut the slots in the sheet before further treating it in order that the portions thuscut out may be returned to the beater and used over again in making further sheets of felt. If the slots are cut in the sheet after it has been impregnated with bitumen or further treated, it is very difiicult to find any economical use for the materials so cut out. The sheet may then be led over drying rolls 13 and thoroughly saturated by being passed through a tank 14 of suitable saturant. The excess saturant may be pressed from the sheet as by rolls 15 which are preferably heated to prevent the sheet sticking thereto. The sheet may next be cooled by being passed through a suitable refrigerator 16 of any desired type, after which coating material may be supplied in liquid form as by a spout 17, a pair of rolls 18 being supplied to spread out the coating evenly on the sheet, the excess therefrom being caught as by a receptacle 19. While the coatin is still tacky, suitable comminuted material is then applied by suitable apparatus generally indicated at 20 which will hereinafter he described in detail. After being surfaced with comminuted material, such as crushed slate, tile, brick, pulverized mica, chalk, ground cork, or equivalent materials, which for brevity will be referred to in the specification and claims as grit, the sheet may be passed about a succession of cooling drums 21 or other suitable cooling de vices, after which it is cut into strips as by a cutter 22, the strips being assembled in any suitable manner and packaged for shi ment. The sequence of steps illustrated in igure 7 is illustrative only, it being understood that they may be changed around or varied in many ways.

In Figures 1 to 4 a series of hoppers23 are shown as mounted on a suitab e frame 24, the sheet of felt 11 being arranged to pass successively therebeneath. Any numer of hoppers may be utilized, four being shown in the construction illustrated. These hoppers are shown as bolted to the frame 24. It is to be understood, however, that they may be so secured as to be adjustable longitudinally of the sheet together with the mechanism connected with them in order to adapt the machine for operation on roofing elements of different sizes. These hoppers are provided with transverse partitions 25 which are adjustably secured in the hoppers so as to be movable lengthwise thereof in order to apply the grit to shingle strips with individual shingle portions of any desired width. While the usual practice is to make the individual shingle ortions on a strip of equal width, if it is desired to turn out strips with individual shingle ortions of various widths to add variety 0 size to variety of color, the adjustable partitions '25 permit the production of strips of this type. Whether the individual shingle portions of a strip are of equal or of unequal width, if the strips are to be notched or slotted, the slot cutter 12 should be constructed to cut the slots accordingl ,the slots and color division lines being in a 1 cases made to register with one another. It isobvious that any number of these partitions 25 may be positioned in each hopper, the number shown in the drawing being two, these forming three separate compartments in each hopper. These compartments may be fed from suitable bins by any desired pipes or conduits 26 as indicated in Figure 7. The pipes are preferably so arranged that the colors in the compartments of the successive hoppers will be in various sequential combinations. By providing flexible pipes from the grit bins, the colors in these compartments may be easily changed at will. At the bottom of each hopper is a I roll 27 which is mounted on a shaft 28, this shaft being geared as by suitable mitre gears 29 toa jack shaft 30 which drives all the rolls simultaneousl Each roll 27 is enclosed in a casing 31 w ich has an opening 32 on oneside thereof through which grit may fall from the hopper on to the sheet of felt. As long as the roll 27 is driven in the direction indicated by the arrow, it will carry with it a fiat stream of grit which will fall steadily through the opening 32 and be caught'on the moving sheet 11. The flat stream of grit falling from each hopper 23 may comprise three or more different colors according to the number of compartments in the hopper and the kind of grit placed in each. In order to prevent overlapping or mixing of grit from the successive hoppers, the rolls 27 are adapted to be driven intermittently. This may be accomplished by any suitable means such as cam mechanisms or the like. By way'of example, a driving mechanism is shown on the drawing comprising a magnetic clutch 33,

34, the part 33 being fixed to turn with a power shaft 35, the part 34 being connected with a hub 36 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 35. The hub 36 is operatively con nected with the jack shaft 30 as by sprocket wheels 37, 38 connected by a chain 39. By this arrangement when the portions 33 and .34 of the magnetic clutch are engaged, the

in turn drives the rolls 27, causing the grit .in

.val durin all of the hoppers to be fed simultaneously through the openin s 32 and dropped on the moving sheet 11 be ow. In order to insure proper coordination between the operation of the rolls 27 and the travel of the sheet 11, the power shaft 35 is operatively connected with the sheet-feeding mechanism preferably through a Keefer clutch or equivalent vari able speed connection to permit adjustment of the speed of travel of the sheet to correspond to changes which may be made in the spacing of successive hoppers. The, action of the magnetic clutch is controlled by a commutator 40, two forms of which 'are shown in Figures 5 and 6. From a suitable source of electrical energy, the wires are led to the commiitator 40 and a contact ring 41,

the latter being connected tothe magnetic windings of the clutch. The magnetic clutch will not be described in detail as such devices are well known and can be purchased on the market. The mechanism for advancing the sheet of felt 11 is operatively connected with the power shaft 35 in such a way that while theshaft 35 makes a single revolution, the sheet 11 will be caused to advance a distance of four units, if unit distance be taken as that between the centers of successive hoppers. The commutator 40 is made of nonconducting material into which is set a metal piece 42, which as shown in Figure 5 comprises 90 degrees or one-quarter of the periphery' of the commutator. It will be apparent that as the commutator 40 revolves with the shaft 35, the parts 33, 34 of the magnetic clutch will be engaged during onequarter of each revolution of the shaft 35, and disengaged. during the remainder threequarters. Since the operate only while t e clutch is engaged, this means that during one-quarter of each revolution of the shaft 35, grit will drop from each ho er that is, through an interw 1ch the felt sheet 11 advances substantia 1" one unit, or a distance equal to that between the centers of successive hopper-s. the disengagement of the clutch mem rs and no grit falls during the next three-quarters of a revolution of the shaft 35 in which interval the sheet 11 advances substantially three units, or adistance three times that between the centers of successive hoppers. This presents fresh coated surface to the hoppers for their next interval of operation.

Thus the entire sheet is surfaced in successive setsof transverse hands by the vari-colored grits from the compartments of'the hoppers. If the partitions 25 in the hoppers are so adjusted that the compartments are all of the same length, a I attern of rectangular checks can be-obtained It i's'obvious that if so desired the hoppers can be diagonally arranged it-dropping rolls 27 I The flow of grit is then' stopped by in relation to the sheet the resulting pattern being checkered with oblique parallelograms.

Referring to Figure 7 43 represents a hopper which ma be supplied to pour a con tinuous stream 0 'grit on the sheet 11 after it comes from beneath the hoppers 23. This grit overlies the grit which has been deposited from the hoppers 23 and serves to fill any spaces of the coated surface which may have been left by imperfect spreading of grit from the hoppers 23. The sheet is then press the grit into intimate contact with the tacky coating material, partially embedding it to a sufficient degree to cause a layer of it to adhere firmly thereto. As the sheet passed about suitable rolls 44, 45, which passes about? the roll 44 and onto the roll 45, the excess loose grit will fall therefrom and be caught either in the hopper'43 or in a suitable receptacle 46 from which it may be recycled for further use. Inasmuch as the grit-falling from the roll 44 is a mixture bf all the various colors fed from the hopers 23, the resulting grit in 43 will thus ,e a mixed or neutral color. This mixed grit in addition to being fed through the hopper 43 may also, if desired, be supplied to oneor more of the compartments in the hoppers 23, thus utilizing all of the grit material without waste. I

In, Figure 6 a slight modification of the commutator 40 is indicated, the metal piece .a combination is that'after the hoppers 23 have deposited their contiguous bands of grit upon the sheet, the next following set of bands will be spaced therefrom by a band of sheet on which no grit is deposited. This ungritted band, which is equal in length to the distance between centers of successive hoppers, will be covered by the grit showered from the hopper 43, thus adding to the variety of the color bands produced on the sheet. In cutting the stripsor elements from the sheet,- it is desirable that the color of the exposed portion of each tab be uniform. In applying granular materials of different colors to contiguous ,areas, and especially when such materials are showered on the sheet, it is practically impossible to obtain straight, sharp lines of division between areas. There will instead be narrow stripes separating adjacent color areas, in which will mingle the different grits from the adjacent areas. Such stripes are not objectionable'when occurring as vertical boundaries between adjacent individual shingle portions of a stri but they are undesirable when appearing orizontally along the butt edges of the strips. The strips should therefore be cut from the sheet in such a manner as to prevent any part'of the boundary stripes from appearing horizontally on the tabs. Two methods of accomplishing this object are illustrated in Figures 8 and 9. In the method illustrated in Figure 8, slots 47 are cut of a length equal to that of the tabs in the finished strip, then the cross-cuts 48 are made through the rows of slots as near to'one end of the slots as practicable. Furthermore, the operation of the hoppers should also be so timed that the transverse bundary stripes 49 will be near to, but clear of, the ends 50 of the slots at which thecross-cuts are made. It will readily be seen that precise timing to obtain accurate registration of -cross-cuts 48 and boundary stripes 49 with the slot ends 50 will not be required, but that an arrangement of these operations on the sheet, as shown in Figure 8, will confine the boundary stripes 49 to the head portion of the strips which will be well covered when laid on a roof, leaving the exposed tabs with solid colors. All that is required is that the operation of the slotter, hoppers and cutter be relatively timed within a reasonable and practical limit and-that the difierence in' the relative positions of the cuts, stripes and slots be not cumulative.

The method illustrated in Figure 9 comprises making the color bands of a width twice the height of a shingle strip, and cutting slots 51 twice the length of the tabs on the finished strip. The boundary stripes 49 between color bands should be arranged midway between successive rows of slots. The cross-cuts should be arranged as closely as practicable to register. with the boundary stripes 49 and the mid-points of the slots 51. In this method also it is obvious that accuracy of timing of the cutter, slotter and hoppers is not necessary to the production of shingle strips with solid colored tabs as long as the error is not cumulative, the boundary stripes being confined to the head portion which is covered when laid on the roof.

The method of cutting shown in Figure 9 also affords a greater variety of color combinations on the finished strips. Considering a pair of shingle strips cut from the same roofing element, when viewed from difierent angles relative to the direction of the light. It is to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the order of steps as hereinbefore described and as shown on the drawing. For example, the cutting step may precede the coating and slating, in which case the cut elements wbuld be carried on a belt or conveyor in contiguous or slightly spaced succession through the steps ofcoating, slatin and pressing.

vaving thus described one form of my in= vention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as dcfined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making multi-colored strip shingles, which comprises coating a face of a sheet of roofing base with an impervious compound, applying colored grit to the coated surface in n checkered pattern, and cutting the sheet on lines between checks.

2. The method of making multi-colored strip shingles, which comprises forming transverse rows of slots in a sheet of roofing base, coating a face of said sheet with an impervions compound, applying colored grit to the coated face in transverse bands comprising areas of various colors with the boundaries between each pair of successive bands between successive rows of slots, and cutting the sheet transversely with each cut intersectin the slots in a row.

3. The method of making multi-colored strip shingles, which comprises forming transverse rows of slots in a sheet of roofing base, applying colored grit in transverse bands comprising areas of various colors, each band being begun and terminated mid way between two successive rows of and cutting the sheet transversely with alternate cuts substantially bisecting the slots of a row and passing midway between successive rows.

4. Steps in the method of making multicolored strip shingles, which comprise feeding a sheet of roofing material longitudinally thereof, simultaneously projecting for a definite period on the moving sheet a p'lurality of streams of grit extending transversely thereof in parallel lines spaced longitudinally thereof, shutting off the grit while a predetermined length of said sheet passes, and repeating the projection of grit at regular intervals.

5. Steps in the method of making multicolored stripshingles, which comprise feeding a sheet of roofing material longitudinally thereof, simultaneously and intermittently projecting on said sheet a plurality of flat streams of grit extending transversely of said sheet. each of said streams having sections of dillerent colors.

ing shut off during the advance of the sheet.

through a multiple of said unit distance.

7. In a'machine of the class described, means for feeding a sheet longitudinally thereof, a plurality of hoppers extending transversely of said sheet and spaced a unit distance in the direction of travel of the sheet, partitions in said hoppers defining compartments therein, means for feeding comminuted materials of various colors to the I different compartments, mechanism actuable ,to feed said comminuted materials from the compartments to the sheet, and means causing said feeding mechanism'to operate during the advance of the sheetthrough said unit distance and to be inoperative during the advance of the sheet through a multiple of said unit distance.

8. In a machine of the class described, means for feeding a sheet of roofing material at a uniform rate, means for supporting a plurality of hoppers transversely of the sheet andspaced a unit distance apart longitudinally of the sheet, mechanism for feeding comminuted material simultaneously from all said hoppers, and means for causing said mechanism to operate during the advance of the sheetthrough a unit distance and to be inoperative during the advance of the sheet through a multiple of said unit distance.

9. In a machine of the class described, a plurality of receptacles for surfacing material, means associated with each receptacle actuable to feed material therefrom, mechanism operatively connected with all said feed means for simultaneous actuation there of, a driven power shaft, and means for intermittently maintaining a driving connection between said power shaft and said actuating mechanism.

10. In a machine of the class described, a plurality of hoppers, means actuable to feed material simultaneously from said hoppers, a power shaft, an electro-ma etic clutch connecting said shaft with sai feed means,

and a make-and-break device for periodically actuating said clutch.

'11. In a machine of the class described, a

' actuable to feed material therefrom, means operatively connecting said devices together -for simultaneous actuation, a power driven shaft, a clutch on said shaft comprising a connecting said loose clutch member with said feed devices, mechanism for connectin and disconnect'mgsaid clutch members, an

means for periodically operating said mechanism.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

.fixed and a loose member, means operatwely 

